User
statistics [1] show that signups for new avatars exceed 10 000 daily. Where
there are about 30 000 to 60 000 users online at any given time,
these statistics mean that a significant portion of avatars online are less
than a day old. As to what purposes these avatars are created, one can only
surmise the reasons. However, in info hubs there seems to be a constant flux of
migrants, some new to the online virtual world experience, some transferring
from other platforms such as IMVU.

Newbie
avatars, in any case, face a culture shock entering Second Life. I had the
opportunity to stalk new avatars in the hope of pinning them down for an
interview. This was not an easy task, as you will soon see!

The
first difficulty is that of getting the attention of a new avatar. They do not
know how to respond to instant messages, and rarely react to local chat. Even
if contact is achieved, they tend to teleport away very quickly, which brings
us to the second difficult task – retaining their attention long enough to
obtain answers to a few simple questions. I found many new avatars eagerly
editing their appearance, wearing vendor boxes in the middle of their torsos
and their hair backward, etc. It was
even difficult getting them to listen to helpful advice on how to deal with
newly bought items and how to try on clothes. Consequently, the interviews were
brief and perfunctory.

I
met Salbagoth at the Zebrasil InfoHub. He was up in the air editing his
appearance.

SLE: Hello, sorry to
bother you up there...

Salbagoth: Hi!

SLE: Are you
genuinely on your first day in Second Life?

Salbagoth: How did
you guess?

SLE: "Age 0."

Salbagoth: I really don’t
know *bleep* about the game, just trying it out. Nothing much to say really, I
just try to mess around with my appearance!

SLE: Yes I can see
that. Have you done other virtual environments - and on starting Second Life,
how do your first impressions compare?

Salbagoth: Nope, I
haven’t done other virtual environments, so nothing to compare it with.

SLE: Do you think
getting onto SL is easy - or difficult?

Salbagoth: Well, as
I said, haven’t really done anything yet, seems to be so many things to do but
I actually don’t even know what I want to do really. As I said, I’m just
curious what’s this all about.

SLE: So, you don't
have specific goals. Do you think you find interests here that correspond to
your first life activities?

Salbagoth: Well,
when I logged in, in a minute or so I accidentally teleported to a metal bar
and I like metal so... it`s possible.

SLE: I wish you all
the best in SL. Thanks! Have a great day!

Salbagoth: You too!

Another
early attempt at interacting with a Newbie happened at Pooley Stage Info Hub. I
met Sashkee, who told me she experienced a language barrier, being Russian. She
apparently used a translation program, so we could converse a bit.

SLE: Did you start on
Second Life today?

Sashkeee: Yes, I
started playing today.

SLE: I see you have
found some clothes at least. Have you met anybody yet, besides me?

Sashkeee: No!

SLE: Do you like
Second Life, on your first day?

Sashkeee: Yes.

SLE: What do you
expect to find here?

Sashkeee: Friends
:)

SLE: Do you know how
to find people?

Sashkeee: No :(

SLE: Do you know how
to use "Search" in your Second Life Viewer? For example,
"Search" "Places" - type in "Russia", you find Russian Federation (102,142,20), and Moscow Island (234,174,25).

Sashkeee: Thank You
:))

SLE: Nitshevoo :) I
wish you a great experience in Second Life! If you need any help, just contact
me!

Cilla408bby
was at HelFell info hub, frantically trying to rezz shopping containers on the
ground where it is not allowed. I took her to a sandbox and guided her through
some of the basics.

SLE: Where did you
get that hair?

Cilla408bby: I don’t
remember. I’m so new at this it’s kinda crazy, lol!

SLE: Really your
first day?

Cilla408bby: Yup! Ugh
- I don’t know what to do. Where do I find other clothes? I think I may as well
quit, I don’t know what I’m doing, lol!

SLE: This takes a bit
of patience. Please don't quit. I was frustrated in the beginning!

Cilla408bby: OK, I’ll
try, lol.

SLE: Are you getting
the hang of it? Did you understand the search function in the inventory?

Cilla408bby: Kinda... Where
do I find dresses?

SLE: Ah, that is
another question. Let's get you to speed with opening the boxes first!

We then went through the process of rezzing a box on the
ground, opening, it, and copying to inventory. Cilla was able to actually put
on some clothes, but she wanted more, so I took her to a few places and showed
her how to buy from vendor panels.

SLE: Now that you
have been a few hours on Second Life, how do you feel about the experience
first getting "online" - what is your first impression?

Cilla408bby: Well, I
was thinking it’s way more realistic than IMVU and [more] confusing, lol!

SLE: Do you think you
have the patience and interest required to stay in Second Life? (I could see
you getting frustrated, opening the shopping bags :)

Cilla408bby: Yeah, now
I think so.

SLE: What do you
think Linden Lab would need to improve, in terms of the getting into Second
Life experience?

Cilla408bby: Well,
more people like you – lol - and instructions!

SLE: Aww, thanks!

Cilla408bby: :)

SLE: What do you aim
to accomplish in Second Life? What is your "life goal" here?

Cilla408bby: To make
new friends.

SLE: Do you think it
will be easy?

Cilla408bby: Maybe,
but I’m not sure.

Finally, I met JoseFernando82 at Moose Beach Info Hub.

SLE: New here?

JoseFernando82: Yes...
Just passed some basic tutorials. I haven't edited my avatar yet. I saw a
tutorial about avatar editing.

SLE: Fine, DON'T!
(Proceeds to take a picture.) It seems like you have a sensible start, reading
tutorials and all. Do you have other experience, on virtual worlds?

JoseFernando82: No. Just
started with Second Life. I don’t know of other virtual worlds. I heard Second
Life is the best one from a friend.

SLE: What do you
expect to find here?

JoseFernando82: I don't
know yet. First I will explore! I like roleplaying and music. And I love
sailing, maybe I can do it here too.

SLE: Do you know how
to use search?

JoseFernando82: Haven't
tried it yet, but will do.

SLE: On your first
impression, do you think you will stay?

JoseFernando82: Oh yes. This
world is calling for exploration!

I
was so intrigued by these newbies that I decided to make a newbie alt for
myself and explore the first rezz-in experience for a new avatar. This is her
report:

“From the secondlife.com front page, I clicked on ‘Join now for free’,
and chose a basic avatar style. There were some major language options to do
the login process, which I found welcoming. I then entered my login information
and downloaded the latest version of the SL viewer. Logging on, I clicked on
the TOS and… appeared as a very grey sketch on top of a greenish hand emblem in
something that looked like a Greek temple with Stargate-style portals depicting
themes. I had heard of tutorials, but no such advice was offered. On my upper
left corner, I saw a number of destinations in a box, and on the screen, a few
other avatars. One was editing her appearance, another was just standing there.
Nobody was talking! I was getting warning messages of everything I attempted to
do, even on sharing the landmark with Stareyes. She couldn’t teleport to ‘Destination
Island’, as apparently nobody can! Once we newbies are out of there, we are
destitute. Clicking on the ‘Linden Realms’ portal, I was quickly teleported
away from the temple, and a message showed on my screen about finding a place
within that area. I clicked on a map pictogram next to some crystal-looking symbols
and got a red circle on it as well as a red arrow on the screen. Following it I
was able to walk to a red beacon. Upon finding it I received another task.
Apparently this task also hinged on finding stuff on the map. I had to leave at
that point, maybe to come back later.”

I
may have been too hasty, contacting avatars who just had started their journey
in Second Life. I might have had better success striking a conversation with some
that had stayed a couple of days, but then, they were not quite as frequent
visitors to the info hubs as the 0-to-1-day-olds. Imposing a barrage of
questions on avatars that are frantically trying to get oriented might have
been just plain bad form – one of these was so frustrated she offered to give
me her password to help sort her appearance out, and another asked for my real
name. I discovered that incoming avatars are equipped with varied backgrounds,
and that Linden Lab has already furnished them with a much better basic
appearance than what most veterans had available a few years ago. Many view
Second Life as a “game”, maybe as a reflection of their gaming background, or
as a result of SL’s game-based orientation tasks. Taking all this into account,
I would advise new avatars to approach Second Life as a virtual environment of
discovery and interaction instead of as a game, to exercise patience in
learning, and to take advantage of the various tutorials available on the
Second Life main page. In addition, there’s no hiding your newbieness, so be
bold and approach more experienced avatars and just ask about anything that is
puzzling you. Most of us love to be of help!